Devices for holding a slate bird caller

ABSTRACT

A device for holding a slate bird caller including a slate holder including a backing ply secured to a cover ply, said cover ply providing a sounding aperture, wherein a slate for producing a bird call is received between said backing ply and said cover ply, with a portion of said slate exposed at said sounding aperture; and a fastener secured to said slate holder to secure said slate holder to an item of clothing.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of Provisional Patent ApplicationNo. 60/592,820 filed on Aug. 2, 2004.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention generally relates to bird hunting accessories,and, more particularly, to slate bird callers. BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION

As is well known in the art, hunting activities can require specializedaccessories. Many items are provided for a hunter's basic needs, whilespeciality equipment and accessories that go far beyond a hunter's basicneeds are also provided.

Of particular interest here are bird callers, more particularly, slatebird callers. Currently, these items are typically carried by hunters,within pockets or packs, and are removed from such storage when needed.Unfortunately, they are needed quite often, and, during a given huntingexpedition, a hunter must constantly store and retrieve his slate birdcaller.

The art can be improved by the provision of a device for carrying slatebird callers wherein the device may be worn on the exterior of ahunter's clothing and always be available for use, without retrievingthe slate caller from a pocket or pack.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention provides a device for holding a slate bird callerincluding a slate holder including a backing ply secured to a cover ply,said cover ply providing a sounding aperture, wherein a slate forproducing a bird call is received between said backing ply and saidcover ply, with a portion of said slate exposed at said soundingaperture; and a fastener secured to said slate holder to secure saidslate holder to an item of clothing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a device for holding a slate bird callerin accordance with this invention; and

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of a device forholding a slate caller in accordance with this invention.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Referring now to FIG. 1, a device for holding a slate bird caller inaccordance with this invention is shown and designated by the numeral10. Device 10 includes a support strap 12 having a clip 14 at one endthereof. The strap may be made from any suitable material strong enoughto resist wear and tear. Likewise, clip 14 may be virtually any type ofsuitable clip or other device for securing one item to another.

Slate holder 16 is secured to support strap 12 downwardly of clip 14. Inthis configuration, device 10 may be hung on a body, for example, bysecuring clip 14 to an eyelet on the exterior of one's clothing or on abelt loop or other appropriate location. Slate holder 16 is made frombacking ply 18 and cover ply 20, preferably of elastic fabric so thatsounding aperture 22 can expand to accept slate 24. In the figures, theslates are shown as received in the slate holders, and the dashed linesrepresent the perimeter of the slates, as received between the backingplies and cover plies. As used herein, “slate” is a term of art, and isnot necessarily limited to actual slate material. Any material currentlyemployed or hereinafter employed for these types of friction-basedcallers may be suitable as slate 24.

As known, slates must be rubbed with the blunt end of a call stick, andit is common to use more than one call stick during a hunting expeditionbecause different call sticks produce different tones. Thus, althoughone or more than two call sticks may be incorporated into the design,backing ply 18 and cover ply 20 extend from slate holder 16 to providefirst and second stick sleeves 28, 30 to hold first and second callsticks 32, 34. Stick sleeves 28, 30, because they are made from theaforementioned elastic fabric, squeeze the sticks 32, 34 to hold them,but sticks 32,34 can easily be removed. An optional pocket 36 isprovided on support strap 12 to hold a mouth-blown bird caller or otherappropriately sized item, if desired.

As with the call sticks, slates may also be provided to producedifferent tones. Thus, referring now to FIG. 2, it may be desirable toproduce a device for holding more than one slate caller. In FIG. 2, sucha device is shown and designated by the numeral 110, and like parts tothe device of FIG. 1 receive like numerals although increased by 100.Thus, the uppermost slate holder 116 of device 110 is basically thedevice of FIG. 1. In FIG. 2, an additional slate holder 216 is providedhanging from an extension 212 of support strap 112. Slate holder 216 ispreferably made of an elastic material having a backing ply 21 8 andcover ply 220 with a sounding aperture 222. Slate holder 216 receivesslate 224. Appropriate fasteners, generally represented at the numeral240 are provided so that slate holder 216 may be folded up and securedto slate holder 116 to provide a device that is less bulky to carry. Inpreferred embodiments, the fasteners 240 are hook-and-loop typefasteners.

The foregoing devices advance the art by providing a device for holdingslate bird callers wherein the device can be worn on the exterior of thebody and wherein the slate can be employed to sound a bird call withouthaving to remove the slate from a pocket or pack or other storage area.With the devices of this invention hung from the loop of a belt, ahunter can simply reach down, grab a call stick, and sound a bird callon the slate, and the slate and call sticks are always ready for use.

In light of the foregoing, it should be appreciated that the presentinvention provides devices for holding slate bird callers thatsubstantially improve the art. While two call sticks are provided in theembodiments shown, one or more may be employed. Similarly, while FIG. 2shows an embodiment with two slates, it will be readily apparent how thegeneral design could be adapted to provide for three or more slates.Additionally, each additional slate holder could be adapted to holdadditional call sticks. It will be appreciated that the presentinvention is not to be limited to or by any specific embodiment ordescription herein. The claims will serve to define the invention.

1. A device for holding a slate bird caller comprising: a slate holderincluding a backing ply secured to a cover ply, said cover ply providinga sounding aperture, wherein a slate for producing a bird call isreceived between said backing ply and said cover ply, with a portion ofsaid slate exposed at said sounding aperture; and a fastener secured tosaid slate holder to secure said slate holder to an item of clothing. 2.The device of claim 1, further comprising: at least one stick sleeveholding a call stick for sounding a bird call by rubbing against saidslate.
 3. The device of claim 2, wherein said at least one stick sleeveis formed as an extension of said backing ply and said cover ply fromsaid slate holder.
 4. The device of claim 3, wherein said cover ply ismade from stretchable material, such that said sounding aperture of saidcover ply may be expanded to selectively insert and remove a slate fromsaid slate holder.
 5. The device of claim 1, further comprising: asupport strap, said fastener being secured to said support strap at oneend thereof, and said slate holder being secured to said support strapdownwardly of said fastener.
 6. The device of claim 1, furthercomprising: an extension strap extending downwardly of said slateholder; and a second slate holder secured to said extension strap. 7.The device of claim 6, wherein said second slate holder includes asecond backing ply secured to a second cover ply, said second cover plyproviding a second sounding aperture, wherein a second slate forproducing a bird call is received between said second backing ply andsaid second cover ply, with a portion of said second slate exposed atsaid second sounding aperture.